Salted Caramel Cake

Salted Caramel Cake is the kind of cake that makes people stop talking mid-sentence. Like… fork halfway to mouth, eyes wide, then “okay WOW.” And yes, I messed this up the first time. Badly.

I burned the caramel on a Tuesday because my neighbor knocked to “borrow sugar” (sir… the irony) and I got distracted for literally 30 seconds. Disaster. Complete disaster. The pot smelled like regret, and my kitchen smelled like toasted marshmallows…but in the scary way.

Anyway. I tried again, and then again, and now I can make this salted caramel cake recipe without breaking a sweat. Mostly. If you’ve ever wanted a salted caramel cake recipe easy enough for a home kitchen but still bakery-level in taste, this is it. It’s not perfect-looking every time, but it tastes insane, and that’s what matters.

The vibe: sweet, salty, cozy, and a little dramatic :

This cake reminds me of those Sunday afternoons at my grandma’s house where everything smelled like butter and something was always “cooling” on the counter. Also, my 8-year-old refuses to eat anything green, but somehow will eat two slices of this and call it “caramel bread.” Sure, kid.

Now, here’s the thing… the caramel is the star. The cake itself is a soft vanilla-brown sugar situation that holds up to the filling. And the filling? Oh yes. We’re doing a real salted caramel cake filling (not just “drizzle some sauce and pray”).

Salted Caramel Cake Recipe Homemade: What You’re Making

You’re making three things:

• A tender vanilla-brown sugar cake (2 layers, 8-inch)
• A salted caramel sauce (some for filling, some for drip)
• A quick caramel buttercream (because plain frosting would be boring)

And if you’re thinking “that sounds like a lot,” I get it. But you can split it up: make caramel the day before. Actually… you know what? That’s the best way. Less chaos.

Ingredients :

Cake layers

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temp-ish
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk (or milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice, sit 5 minutes)

Shopping note: good luck finding buttermilk when you actually need it. I swear it disappears from stores the second you plan a cake.

Salted caramel sauce (for filling + drip)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, room temp (warm is even safer)
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons flaky sea salt (or 3/4 teaspoon regular salt if you’re normal like me)

Do NOT skip this step: use a light-colored saucepan if you can. Dark pans make it harder to see when caramel is about to burn (learned this the hard way).

Caramel buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup cooled salted caramel sauce (from above)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2–4 tablespoons milk/cream (as needed)

Optional but fun:

• A pinch more salt if you want that salted caramel cake slice to have a real “sweet-salty bite”

Salted Caramel Cake Filling Recipe :

Some people just frost and drizzle caramel on top. And sure, that’s fine. But a real salted caramel cake filling means you get caramel in every bite, not just on your plate.

I do a caramel “dam” with buttercream around the edge, then fill the middle with thick caramel sauce. If you skip the dam, the caramel leaks out the sides like a delicious landslide. Looks messy. Tastes great. But still—use the dam.

Instructions :

1) Bake the cakes

1. Preheat oven to ${350}^{\circ }\text{F}$350∘F / ${175}^{\circ }\text{C}$175∘C. Grease and line two 8-inch pans.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, cream butter + brown sugar + white sugar for 2–3 minutes. It should look fluffy-ish.
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. If it looks a bit curdled… it’s fine. It always looks weird here.
5. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk in turns: dry, milk, dry, milk, dry. Mix until just combined. Don’t overmix or you’ll get a dense cake. (Been there.)
6. Divide batter into pans. Bake 25–30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
7. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then turn out and cool fully.

Timing mishap confession: I’ve set a timer for 25 minutes and then “just quickly” answered a message and suddenly it’s 33 minutes. If your edges look a little dark, trim them. No one has to know.

2) Make the salted caramel sauce

1. Add sugar to a saucepan over medium heat. Don’t walk away. Seriously.
2. Stir as it melts and clumps. It’ll look like wet sand, then like chunks of glass, then suddenly it’s liquid. Magic.
3. When it turns a deep amber (not brown-black, please), add butter. It will bubble like it’s angry. Stir.
4. Slowly pour in cream while stirring. It will bubble MORE. Keep going.
5. Simmer 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in salt.
6. Cool until thick but still pourable.

If you burn it: don’t “save” it. I tried. The bitter taste haunts you. Dump it, wash the pot, start again. Sorry.

3) Make caramel buttercream

1. Beat butter for 2 minutes until creamy.
2. Add powdered sugar in batches (or you’ll create a powdered sugar cloud and cough like a cartoon).
3. Beat in caramel sauce + vanilla.
4. Add milk/cream a splash at a time until spreadable.

4) Assemble (Salted Caramel Cake decoration without stress)

1. Level cakes if needed. Snack on the scraps. Mandatory.
2. Put one layer on a plate. Pipe a buttercream ring around the edge (the dam).
3. Spoon thick caramel into the center.
4. Add a thin layer of buttercream over the caramel if you want extra stability.
5. Add second layer. Frost the outside.
6. Chill 15–20 minutes. Then do a caramel drip.

For salted caramel cake decoration ideas: throw flaky sea salt on top, maybe crushed toffee bits, or even chopped roasted almonds. I once did a “salted caramel cake aesthetic” look with little caramel swirls and it looked… okay. Not Pinterest-perfect, but cute.

Salted Caramel Cakes: Tips I Learned the Hard Way :

• Caramel hates distractions. Put your phone down. Yes, you.
• Use room temp cream. Cold cream can make caramel seize up fast.
• If your caramel is too thin for filling, chill it 30 minutes and stir.
• If your buttercream is too sweet, add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon more caramel.

Fun extras: cake pops + design ideas :

If you’ve got leftover cake (lol, rare), you can mash it with a bit of buttercream, roll into balls, dip in melted chocolate, and boom—salted caramel cake pops.

And for salted caramel cake design, I like “imperfect rustic”: swoopy frosting, caramel drip that’s not symmetrical, salt flakes. Real life vibes.

Alright. If you make this, tell me—did your caramel behave or did it try to ruin your evening? Let me know in the comments because I’m genuinely curious.

Now I’m craving this again. Thanks a lot, brain. 🤎🍰